When Poultry Can be Bad for Your Health

Two news stories dominating the headlines this week highlight how closely human health is linked to poultry production.

The first is the publication of a study showing that the use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals is a risk to public health and can help to spread drug-resistant bacterial strains.

The study, by the Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ Panel) for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), calls for a lowering of the overall use of antimicrobials in farm livestock in the EU in order to limit the risk to public health that can arise from resistance in the food chain.

In its assessment, the Panel evaluated the risks to public health of bacterial strains producing two types of enzymes: extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and AmpC beta-lactamases (AmpC). These enzymes inactivate the effects of antimicrobials such as penicillins and cephalosporins, which are critically important antimicrobials for both human and veterinary medicine.

EFSA's Panel experts found that different bacteria are able to produce these enzymes, most often E. coli and Salmonella. Since 2000, the Panel has found, ESBL/AmpC-producing Salmonella and E. coli in animals and foods have been increasingly reported both in Europe and globally.

After analysis of the risk factors contributing to the occurrence, emergence and spread of ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria, the experts concluded that the use of antimicrobials in general – not only cephalosporins – is a risk factor for the spread of these types of resistant bacterial strains.

The EFSA Panel concluded that decreasing the overall use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals should be of high priority in the EU as these bacterial strains are often resistant to many other commonly used veterinary drugs. They also concluded that an additional risk factor is the extensive trade of animals in EU Member States.

The other headline story comes from the US. A week ago, the food safety authority issued a Public Health Alert following concerns about illnesses caused by Salmonella Heidelberg that was linked to the consumption of ground turkey meat.

A total of 79 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg have been reported from 26 states between 1 March and 3 August. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics. Twenty-two persons have been hospitalised and one death has been reported.

As a result of the epidemiological and traceback investigations, as well as in-plant findings, FSIS determined that there is a link between ground turkey products from Cargill and this illness outbreak. Cargill has initiated a voluntary recall of more than 16,000 tonnes of ground turkey products and the company has suspended production at one of its turkey processing facilities.

And finally, poultry meat production in 2011 is forecast by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to increase two per cent globally to 100 million metric tons (MT), which is half of last year's rate of increase. However, the rate of increase for poultry meat production worldwide is much faster than that of other competing proteins. The reduced growth rate in production is attributed to high feed costs and a resurgence in disease.